Meme Monday–Running with SQL

I was on vacation last week in Arizona. We were in Phoenix a lot, but also spent time in Sedona and visited the Grand Canyon. It was really beautiful there and very nice to be able to get away with the family to someplace warm and remote.

With some free time, I was also able to get out for run almost every day. I love to run, and I’m just starting to get back into it after some time off. My history as a runner is kind of sporadic. I ran a lot during and after college, then got injured and stopped for a few years. Then in 2009 I trained for and ran (and finished!) the Chicago Marathon, which was an incredibly awesome experience. Since then I’ve run very little, at least up until the last few weeks.

One of the things I love about running is chance to be alone with my thoughts for a short period of time. During those runs in AZ, I found myself thinking of many things, some related to database work. Those thoughts somehow evolved into thinking how much running is like working with SQL Server. Here’s a few I remember…

Both are fun, challenging and rewarding

They require practice and persistence

The more you give to either, the more you get out

Can do it alone, but is better when you do it with other people

Given those and other similarities, it’s not surprising to me that there are several runners in the SQL community. Since this is far beyond 11 words, I’m going to finish here by tagging 3 SQL folks that I know like to run: Gill, Keith, Erin.